Whenever Hollywood cranks out a sequel, there's the danger it will suffer from a case of the terrible twos.

"Despicable Me 2," a chipper follow-up to the inventive 2010 animated hit, mostly avoids that trap. While it isn't as touching or as exuberantly funny as the original, it's a cute summer diversion for kids with just enough wink-wink slyness and cheeky cinematic asides to hold the interests of older teens and adults. One those grounds, it's worth the price of a matinee admission. If you feel like paying more, the 3-D is astonishingly good.

It also fares better over other animated follow-ups by taking us on a new adventure without seeming superfluous or rote.

Screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul, along with returning directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, realize they have a comic gold mine in Steve Carell ("The Office") so they keep the focus on their supervillain-gone-supersoftie who's dealing with the challenges of being a good dad to three very cute girls.

The filmmakers could have taken the easy way out, turning Gru's character bad again. Instead they introduce a refreshing love interest: Lucy, a go-get-'em agent from the Anti Villain League. The zany Lucy is a most welcome addition, and since she's played by the energetic Kristen Wiig of "Bridesmaids," you'll be smitten too. As you'd expect, the Carell-Wiig matchup draws aces, with Russell Brand, as Gru's right-hand man Dr. Nefario, hitting some high notes.

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Lucy's alluring ways are partly responsible for coaxing Gru to join forces with the Anti Villain League. They're out to nab an evil mastermind in possession of a serum that, when injected, can transform anyone into an indestructible monster.

If that's not silly enough, the league has narrowed the location of suspects, which include a rotund owner (Benjamin Bratt) of a Mexican restaurant, to one mall. So it's up to Gru and Lucy, with the assistance of Gru's yellow little digit-like minions (scene-stealers as usual) to ferret out the bad guy.

The "Mission: Impossible" sendup is good enough, with individual scenes -- Gru's date with a fitness fanatic is a comic highlight -- proving to be even better than the spy references. And while directors Coffin and Renaud have trouble with pacing in patches, the finale is a lot of zany fun when the dimwitted minions undergo a personality change and turn purple and fierce.

But is any of this flat-out hilarious? One or two scenes are. "Despicable Me 2" is more often amusing. And on a hot summer day in July when the kids are bored, being amusing might be just the refuge a parent needs.